Holocaust Center for Humanity Inspires Change

The welcoming sign to the Henry and Sandra Friedman Holocaust Center for Humanity (Jacob Lintner)

By Jacob Lintner, Joel Boenitz, and Dominic Hoscher
Published: April 7, 2017

SEATTLE, WA • From social studies teacher to specialist in educational research and evaluation, Linda Elman had been a key factor in kids’ education for years. Now she has retired, kind of.

Elman, even when retired, does a lot to help her community, from teaching a Hebrew class once a week to giving tours of the Pike’s Place Market to children every Tuesday morning. One of her favorite things is being the docent at the Holocaust Center for Humanity, which she has been doing for almost two years.

“I can’t say I’m the one who initiated working here [the Holocaust Center of Humanity],” said Elman when talking about becoming a docent, “but I had the experience of teaching European history and so it was natural for me. I had a background with the center, and it’s also down the street from where I live.”

(Photos by Jacob Lintner)

The Holocaust Center of Humanity uses speakers to go to classrooms to spread the word of the good and bad of people around this world. There speakers travel all over Washington, but also go to Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii.

“Our biggest impact is probably our impact on teachers and what we get into their classrooms,” says Elman. “Our secondary impact are the people that are in the museum.”

(Video edited by Dominic Hoscher)

The Holocaust Center of Humanity, a non-profit organization found in the heart of Seattle, WA, is open on Wednesdays and Sundays, but has received many donations since the 80’s. Endel hopes for anybody who comes to the center learns that human beings are capable of great evil, but also of doing great good.

“We need to learn how to make the world a better place,” Elman said, “or to make better changes in the world. I just think it’s great that there is a place where people can come and talk about what could be good and bad in humans.”